Maybank, Axiata, Maxis underpin KLCI's advance

KUALA LUMPUR: Blue chips closed near their day's high on Monday underpinned by gains in Maybank, Axiata and Maxis on fund support as the ringgit turned firmer and crude oil bounced.

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI was up 6.29 points or 0.38% to 1,678.08. Turnover was 1.56 billion shares valued at RM1.39bil. There were 423 gainers, 379 losers and 380 counters unchanged.

Key Asian markets climbed on investor expectation that the US was unlikely to raise interest rates after the weaker job data. Singapore was the top performer, up 1.7%, followed by the Hang Seng Index, up 1.65%. MSCI's emerging market index jumped 1.3%, helped by Asian bourses.

The sharp rise in oil prices came amid renewed speculation that major producers including Saudi Arabia and Russia could cooperate to tackle weak prices and rein in oversupply, Reuters reported.  US light crude oil rose US$1.80 to US$46.24 and Brent jumped US$2.20 to US$49.03. 

The ringgit firmed up against the US dollar to 4.0690 from 4.0893 the previous day, it rose against the Singapore dollar to 2.9992 from 3.0067 and advanced against the Euro to 4.5459 from 4.5735. It slipped against the pound sterling to 5.4411 from 5.4260.

Maybank took the lead as the main mover of the KLCI, chalking up a 14 sen gain to RM7.89 and pushing the KLCI up 2.38 points. RHB Bank added six sen to RM4.99, AmBank four senb to RM4.32 while Hong Leong Bank was flat at RM13.10.  HLFG fell 16 sen to RM15.84, Public Bank six sen lower at RM19.84 and CIMB shed three sen to RM4.74.

As for telcos, Axiata rose 13 sen to RM5.58. Axiata Group Bhd CEO Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim signaled Malaysia’s biggest mobile-phone operator would be interested in raising its stake in Singapore’s M1 Ltd. as part of plans to turn the company into a bigger regional carrier, according to Bloomberg.

Maxis added eight sen to RM6.25 and nudged the KLCI up 1.02 poins, while Digi and Telekom gained one sen each to RM5.02 and RM6.85.

Among the oil and gas stocks, SK Petro rose three sen to RM1.55 and Petronas Chemicals one sen up to RM6.68 while Petrnas Dagangan lost six sen to RM23.34 and Petronas Gas shed two sen to RM21.92.

Crude palm oil for third month delivery jumpoed RM43 to RM2,638 per tonne. IOI Corp rose eight sen to RM4.49, PPB Group six sen higher at RM16.12 while Sime Darby was flat at RM7.82, KL Kepong fell 10 sen to RM23.62.

Consumer stocks chalked up some gains led by BAT, up 22 sen to RM49.72 and it was the best performer of the day, Heineken gained 16 sen to RM18.40 but Dutch Lady fell 10 sen to RM62.80.

Top Glove advanced 14 sen to RM4.74 on rising volume. Last week, it climbed on the weaker ringgit and this week's advance could be linked to hightened health risks concerns from the Zika virus.

Genting Bhd gave up some of the last week's gains, falling 10 sen to RM7.82 and erasing 0.64 of a point from the KLCI. Tenaga added two sen to RM14.68.

Spot gold price rose US$2.56 to US$1,327.77 per troy ounce.